


In Case of Emergency

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 23:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6726874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just an average mission in a hostile location with crazy mercenaries trying to kill Shepard and company. She really should be used to it by now, but it's not every day she ends up being caught by surprise, running out of oxygen and bleeding from the head. Fun times!</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Case of Emergency

“Dammit.” Shepard clicked her tongue in annoyance as she hurriedly slung her rifle over her back. She was going to have to move in order to get a better shot. Given all of the red beams she could see crisscrossing overhead and around her, doing so was going to be easier said than done. “I’m going to need some cover to get into position and take out some of these snipers.”

They’d known that this was going to be a trap. In all her years of service, if there was something she’d learned to never trust, it was an ominous, unidentified distress signal. They were never what they seemed, and more often than not, she and her team ended up in a chaotic situation like this. Still, there was the chance that they’d uncover some secret or clue that would help paint a clearer picture of the problems plaguing the galaxy, and they needed all the help they could get on that front. Prothean artifacts? Secret intel? Some crazy technology that could redefine their weaponry in the fights to come? Anything seemed possible. Then again, it might have been nothing but an ambush that was doomed to fail. That is, if Shepard could gain the foothold she needed to turn the tides in the battle, of course.

She pulled her pistol with practiced grace, turning her head to gain bearings on her position and those of her teammates. They were behind her, forced into formation based on limited cover and poor visibility. Shifting her gaze, she realized that though it was going to be a challenge, Shepard could see a perfect place to settle off to her right. If these mercenaries were too cowardly to come out and face her head-on, then she was going to have to answer in kind.

“I’m moving. 3 o’clock. Cover me.”

“Shep—“ Kaidan’s words were cut short by a shot whizzing just by his ear. Helmet or no, it was unnerving. She saw him duck out of sight suddenly as three more shots impacted the wall where he was taking cover. The glimpse of it, short as it was while she was already on the move, made her blood boil.

She was in a full sprint before the snipers could track her movements and follow her across the dusty expanse. Her aim was to slip easily in next to a cylindrical piling which served as a support for the dilapidated outpost. The crates surrounding it would provide enough space and coverage for their needs.

What she hadn’t anticipated was the drone that drifted upwards from behind the crates. A decision had to be made in a split second. Stop to take out the drone and let the snipers hone in on her position or barrel forward at the drone, directly into its line of fire. Shepard elected to take her chances with the drone, making the most of the brief moment it needed to register her presence and take aim.

She dove and rolled, landing directly under the drone and skidding to a stop on her back. She unleashed a flurry of shots upward at the readjusting machine. It whirled and spun in response to the barrage, swinging wide in order to get her in its sights as its programming dictated. Out in the open, it was easy picking for Garrus and Kaidan.

In the blink of an eye, Shepard’s sniper rifle was out and she was taking aim at enemies stationed all around. One by one, she struck them down from afar, taking moments here and there to duck her head or slide aside to avoid similar assault on her person. Her teammates joined her in her new location, Garrus setting himself up to cover angles that she couldn’t quite hit. This trio had seen so much and been through so many firefights together that there was no verbal communication needed to organize themselves efficiently. They understood one another.

The difficult thing about dealing with mercenaries was the unpredictability of their numbers and ranks. When they were handling geth or husks or even Cerberus, it was a fairly simple task to anticipate who or what was coming. Mercenaries, on the other hand, had a tendency to pack surprises. New technology, unexpected races, or vastly underestimated numbers were all possibilities, and Shepard cursed under her breath when she heard a portal open nearby, acknowledging that new unknowns had entered the fray.

She continued firing, having already eliminated at least half of the opposition that had been shooting wildly at her and her team since they’d touched down. Shepard felt it before she saw it, but the familiar wash of power over her body signaled the presence of a biotic she had not anticipated. An unnerving blue haze wrapped around her limbs, rendering them useless and lifting her clear off of the ground. She’d worked with enough biotics (and even went so far as to love one) to know what was happening without seeing the former commando standing somewhere behind her.

This was going to be a problem.

Shepard knew what was coming next. She and Garrus and Kaidan had executed this move numerous times. That was why when shots rang out from across the dusty expanse, she wasn’t exactly surprised by the impact. Glass shattered in her face as her shields were blasted apart and her helmet absorbed the brunt of the impact. Her tightly closed eyelids protected her eyes, but she could already feel warm wetness crawling across her forehead.

By the time she made contact with the ground again, she was not aware of her exact location in the field. The air escaped her lungs with a violent whoosh and her entire body hurt. What she did know, however, was that she needed to move and do so quickly. Even with her chest convulsing in protest, she brought herself into a crouching position and struggled to gain her bearings. The vision in her left eye was marred with the blood oozing from a wound somewhere on her head, but her right eye caught sight, even amidst the jagged shards of her visor, of the door she’d heard opening only moments ago. It was where the newest wave of enemies had emerged, but now that her helmet was damaged, Shepard knew she was going to have to get inside to breathable air and do so quickly.

It took all of her strength and resolve, but she scrambled. She pushed as hard as her aching arms and legs would allow. In the midst of it all, the sounds of her partners’ calls began to break through the ringing in her ears. They were calling for her to be sure that she was okay, but Shepard found herself completely unable to answer. By the time her body was ready to inhale and inflate her burning lungs once more, the reminder of an incompatible environment stole the words from her lips, replacing them with painful coughing. The alarms on her omni-tool reminded her that there was too much nitrogen and not enough oxygen in the air here and now in her suit as well. She was going to suffocate in a matter of minutes if she couldn’t get the situation under control.

Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm.

Shepard concentrated on the words and repeated them in her mind, knowing that if she panicked, she was going to lose precious time and likely pass out. Ignore the blood. Get inside. Apply medigel. Reassess the situation. It was logical. It was sensible. It was more than flailing uselessly on the ground until her teammates could help her or dying in the meantime.

The familiar crack of rifle shots and a flare of blue behind her as she darted into the open door reminded her that her companions were fighting hard and that she had two very important reasons to get back as soon as possible. While she wasn’t a fan of splitting up their squad this way, it couldn’t really be helped. Coughing and wheezing, she pressed on, pulling her pistol once more and holding it ready in front of her hunched body. Her aim would have been horrific if she actually intended to shoot something due to the hampered vision and wracking coughs, but she wanted to make it known that she was not defenseless.

She noticed some airlock controls on the wall nearby. Stumbling towards them, she landed on the panel a bit more forcefully than she had anticipated, jabbing the buttons with desperate fingers. A door slid closed and a hiss filled her ears that signaled incoming relief. She stood there for a few precious seconds, blinking the dark spots out of her good eye, both hands on her knees, doubled over. She gratefully gulped the oxygen flooding the room while watching blood drip languidly from her face, drift across a broken shard of her helmet’s visor, and down to the ground in front of her.

Only when she calmed her own breathing and nerves did she realize that the door had slid open and shut again. She was called out of her momentary stupor by the alarmed shout of a familiar voice.

“Oh my God!”

“Kaidan,” she choked in response as he closed the distance and his helmet suddenly rolled across the ground into her direct line of sight. As Shepard fumbled to pull her gloves off, she felt his hands at her shoulders, gently urging her to stand upright so he could take a closer look.

“Let me see. Where were you hit?” She could hear the subtle undertones of panic in his voice. He didn’t know how severe the damage was or if he’d be able to fix it in time. He turned his attention to the releases on her helmet.

“Kaidan, it’s fi—“ She’d hit the releases on the front when he’d gone for the back. Shepard still hadn’t straightened so that he could get a look at her face. In all honesty, she didn’t want him to see what a bloody mess she was at the moment.

“I’ve got the medigel. You’re going to be okay,” He soothed. Pulling the helmet free, he could see the dark, matted mess that was her hair. He wasn’t quite able to stop the gasp of shock. In all honesty, she was surprised to witness him losing his cool in this sort of situation. He was usually quite calm and composed under pressure.

“Kaidan,” Shepard said, slowly recovering her usual tone of voice after her coughing fit. She held up a hand to try and get his attention as he fretted and scrambled to undo the damage before she lost consciousness.

“Tell me where it hur—“

“ALENKO.” It was the call of an officer. It was the tone of absolute authority. The name rolling from her lips caused him to stop and stiffen immediately, as any properly trained soldier would. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he’d been caught off guard. She curled her fingers around the hand she could see that had just been reaching for her shoulder once more. “Really, I’m fine. It’s just a cut. You know how they bleed when they’re on the head. Don’t worry. I just need something to wipe the blood off and I can handle the medigel.”

His thumb rubbed across the back of her hand for the briefest of moments as he registered what she’d just said. Then, he withdrew it and began digging through his supplies. Shepard, meanwhile, began gingerly touching her fingers to her scalp where she felt burning, trying to figure out from where, exactly, the blood was originating. It was a small laceration, really. It was likely a result of her recently shattered visor and nothing more.

She felt a soft cloth gingerly placed near the area of her scalp where her fingers had been assessing the damage. Taking hold of it, Shepard dabbed and swiped, trying to clear the area of the mess so that she could eventually look her teammates in the face and apply the medigel properly. When she finally opened her left eye after sweeping over it with the cloth, she realized that the material was oddly dark. She looked at it quizzically for a moment before another scent mingled with the recognizable tang of medigel.

“Is this…?” Finally bringing herself to stand upright and look at her fellow Spectre, Shepard was greeted with a now shirtless Kaidan. That smirk on his face said it all. She couldn’t bite back the laughter that tore from her throat as her cheeks flushed pink. Surprising, given all the blood on the floor and his ruined shirt. “Really? Was that necessary?”

He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I knew you’d take it all from me. The very shirt off my back.”

Shepard was half tempted to throw the garment in his face for his mock insolence. Unfortunately, it was now caked with her blood. Instead, she used it to wipe her hands of any excess mess and medigel and she tossed it aside, closing in on him before he could react. Her fingers roamed up and over his exposed torso before landing on either side of his jaw to pull him close and reward him with a searing kiss. She whispered a grateful “thank you” against his lips as hers curled into a devilish grin. He wrapped his arms around her in response, clearly appreciating the closeness despite the armor.

“Seriously. I can’t leave you two alone for five minutes. Look what happens.” Garrus appeared suddenly in the doorway, obviously intent on moving inside to check on the commander. He promptly decided against interrupting the moment and punched the button to close the door once more. “I’ll be out here if you need me,” he added over the comms.

Shepard giggled. Kaidan’s cheeks flushed, but he didn’t let go. His warm gaze wandered all over her, seemingly looking to verify her claims. “You sure you’re okay? Not feeling lightheaded?”

“Not from blood loss, if that’s what you’re getting at. You’re going to have to put your armor back on if you intend on keeping me from being faint, Major.” She kissed him again, a sweet, gentle gesture before forcing herself to step back and put some distance between them. This was hardly the time or place.

“Yes, ma’am,” he quietly replied, face still flushed but smirking as he picked up and locked his armor back in place.

Shepard picked up her broken helmet in one hand and his in the other. Handing the whole one to its owner, she took a deep breath in a half-hearted effort to forget her momentary distraction. “Let’s check and see if coming here was worth all the trouble, shall we?”


End file.
